NPTEL Online Certification Courses

Indian Institute of Technology

Kharagpur

Human Resource Development

Assignment- Week 12
TYPE OF QUESTION: MCQ

Number of questions: 15 Total mark: 15 X 1 = 15

MCQ Question

QUESTION 1:

The differences in age, religion, race etc. among employees can be understood as

a. Workforce ethics
b. Workforce responsibility
c. Workforce diversity
d. All of these

Correct Answer: c. Workforce diversity

Detailed Solution: Workforce diversity means the heterogeneous composition of employees

of an organisation.

QUESTION 2:

Which of these statements regarding gender diversity is INCORRECT:

a. There are more women in the workforce today than ever

b. Most “nonstandard” workers today are men
c. Women in the workplace still face stereotypes and the Glass ceiling.
d. Men have more excellent representation in IT firms than women

Correct Answer: b. Most “nonstandard” workers today are men

Detailed Solution: Most "nonstandard" workers (who do not hold regular, full-time jobs) are
women.

QUESTION 3:

An important concern regarding cultural Diversity in organisations is the effects of group

identity on interaction and issues related to prejudice or stereotypes. It is a challenge related
to which of the following areas
?
a. Education programs
b. HR Management System
c. Organisational culture
d. Heterogeneity in race

Correct Answer: d. Heterogeneity in race

Detailed Solution: Companies increasingly understand the value of recruiting and retaining
diverse employees. These workers play a critical role in a company's ability to adapt, grow
and sustain a competitive advantage in the modern business landscape. However, some
companies fail to recognise the benefits of having a racially and ethnically diverse workforce.
Factors such as prejudice and stereotypes towards certain racial or ethnic groups can lead to
discriminatory practices, whether conscious or unconscious.

QUESTION 4:

Homophobic comments, jokes or anti-gay rhetoric are discriminatory practices related to

Diversity in which area?

a. Race
b. Sexual orientation
c. Disability
d. Age

Correct Answer: b. Sexual orientation

Detailed Solution: A small proportion of the Indian workforce is lesbian, gay, or bisexual.
Many do not disclose their sexual orientation because of homophobic comments, jokes or
anti-gay rhetoric. A survey conducted in 2016 by MINGLE, an Indian LGBT advocacy
group, on the Indian LGBT Workplace climate shows the acute prevalence of harassment and
homophobia in Indian workplaces.

QUESTION 5:

According to Hofstede, the extent to which a society accepts the fact that influence and
authority in institutions and organisations are distributed unequally can be classified as

a. Uncertainty/Avoidance
b. Masculinity/Femininity
c. Individualism/Collectivism
d. Power distance

Correct Answer: d. Power distance

Detailed Solution: Power distance refers to how less powerful members of organisations and
institutions (including the family) accept and expect unequal power distributions. This
dimension is measured not only from the perspective of the leaders who hold power but from
the followers.
QUESTION 6:

Which of the following statements describes the Availability Challenge of Diversity:

a. employers must embrace new Diversity and essentially focus on "differences."

b. Diversity can create positive and negative conflict
c. Qualified employees have become scarce, so employers must become more flexible
d. Group leaders must minimise destructive conflict and maximise Diversity of input

Correct Answer: c. Qualified employees have become scarce, so employers must become
more flexible

Detailed Solution: In the past, employers could control Diversity because there were more
people than jobs. Qualified employees have become scarce, so employers must become more
flexible. They need to realise that “Different does not mean deficient”.

QUESTION 7:

Training is given by organisations to enhance employee’s overseas adjustment and

performance is called

a. Cross-cultural training
b. Simulation training
c. Diversity training
d. All of these

Correct Answer: a. Cross-cultural training

Detailed Solution: Organisations use cross-cultural training to prepare employees working

overseas. Goals of movement include- 1. Raise awareness of cultural differences, 2. Focus on
ways attitudes are shaped, 3. Provide factual information about each culture, 4. Build skills in
language, nonverbal communication, cultural stress management, and adjustment adaptation
skills

QUESTION 8:

The stage of diversity awareness in which an individual perceives Diversity as a threat

against one's comfortable world-view and uses negative stereotyping is called

a. Acceptance
b. Adaptation
c. Denial
d. Defence

Correct Answer: d. Defence

Detailed Solution: Defense against cultural difference occurs when people perceive other
cultures in polarised, competitive, zero-sum, or us-against-them terms (e.g., immigrants are
taking our jobs, our traditional values are under assault, etc.); when they exalt their own
culture over the culture of others (e.g., white nationalism); or when they feel victimised or
attacked in discussions about bias, bigotry, or racism (e.g., they withdraw, leave the room,
break down in tears, become defensive or hostile, etc.). The defence may also manifest in
efforts to deny people from other cultures equal access or opportunities, such as opposition to
affirmative-action policies or diversity-hiring initiatives.

QUESTION 9:

In the Triple-bottom line model, which of the following is the social variable dealing with
community, education, health and well-being?

a. People
b. Planet
c. Profit
d. Principle

Correct Answer: a. People

Detailed Solution: The triple bottom line is a sustainability framework that examines a
company's social, environmental, and economic impact. The people category considers
society, and all stakeholders (versus solely shareholders), including employees, communities
within which an organisation operates, individuals throughout the supply chain, future
generations, and customers—to name a few.

QUESTION 10:

The conceptual framework to understand the role of HRD in developing ethical behaviour
has two dimensions which relate to the idea of

a. right or wrong
b. compulsion or freewill
c. wholeness or fragmentation
d. thinking or doing

Correct Answer: c. wholeness or fragmentation

Detailed Solution: A range of roles in HRD can be defined, in a conceptual framework,

against two dimensions of the epistemology of values, which both relate to the idea of ethical
wholeness or fragmentation. The first dimension concerns the extent to which a person
believes their ethical values to be a unified whole or a greater or lesser degree, a variable set.
The second dimension concerns a person's beliefs about the holistic or fragmentary nature of
the wider cultural field in which they live and work.

QUESTION 11:

Which of the following statements regarding HRD and business ethics is INCORRECT:

a. The HRD profession has a responsibility to create a profession that behaves in a morally
responsible manner.
b. All aspects of HRD practice have ethical implications and involve making moral choices.
c. HRD facilitates the development of more responsible cultures by developing new
competencies and mindsets among their managers and executives.
d. HRD is an instrument of corporate profit maximisation agenda.

Correct Answer: d. HRD is an instrument of the corporate profit maximisation agenda.

Detailed Solution: HRD has been criticised for disengaging from its roots in humanistic
social science and its original concern for the well-being of individuals in organisations.
It is described as an instrument of corporate profit maximisation, but that is not its true
aim.

QUESTION 12:

The internal focus of CSR is on the impact of an organisation's activities on:

a. communities
b. employees
c. environment
d. customers

Correct Answer: b. employees

Detailed Solution: The external focus of CSR is on the impact of an organisation's

activities on communities, the environment and external stakeholders such as customers
and suppliers. The internal focus is on how an organisation is managed and the impact
on employees.

QUESTION 13:

The CSR matrix classifies companies based on CSR spending and CSR score. Those
companies which have high spending and high score are:

a. Low-efficiency
b. Pacesetters
c. Starting out
d. Smart Utilizers

Correct Answer: b. Pacesetters

Detailed Solution: To illustrate progress versus expectations, company performance results

have been categorised across four quadrants - Pace setters, smart utilisers, starting and low
efficiency. CSR scores are divided into high and low, using the median as a cut-off. Similarly,
CSR spending is divided into high or low using the median spend percentage as a cut-off.
Pacesetters are companies that spend relatively large amounts on CSR and have relatively
high CSR scores.

QUESTION 14:

Based on SWOT analysis of HRD, CEOs not being able to identify and use the HRD
Managers would be:
a. Threat
b. Opportunity
c. Strength
d. Weakness

Correct Answer: d. Weakness

Detailed Solution: It is a weakness of HRD that CEOs cannot identify and use the HRD
Managers, and HRD managers lack the courage to educate and make a difference.

QUESTION 15:

The phenomenon where customers co-create rather than consume goods and services is
known as:

a. prosumers
b. globality
c. service-oriented architecture
d. business web

Correct Answer: a. prosumers

Detailed Solution: Prosumer is a combination of the two words- producer and consumer. It
refers to consumers taking part in the design process of the services or products consumed.